Posted on 07/04/2006 2:07:02 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SEOUL, South Korea - A discredited South Korean cloning scientist admitted in court Tuesday to ordering subordinates to falsify stem cell data for a paper in a scientific journal, but he insisted he should not be the only one blamed in the scandal.
Hwang Woo-suk, who falsely claimed breakthroughs in creating stem cells from cloned human embryos, testified at the second hearing of a trial in which he is accused of accepting funds under false pretenses, embezzlement and violating the bioethics law by purchasing eggs for research.
For a 2005 paper in the journal Science, Hwang acknowledged that he told researchers to make it appear as if they were basing their results on 11 cloned embryonic stem cell lines, rather than the two lines they were working with.
But he said his researchers also share the blame.
"It was definitely wrong," Hwang testified. "I have no intention to escape the overall responsibility, but I feel differently about the view that all responsibility should lie with me as one of over 30 authors" of the study.
Even the two stem cells which Hwang believed his team created from cloned embryos were also later found to be fakes. They were actually ordinary stem cells created from fertilized eggs, not from cloned embryos.
Prosecutors have concluded that a junior researcher on Hwang's team brought the regular stem cells into the lab and deceived Hwang into believing that they were cloned. The junior researcher also has been charged.
Hwang had previously admitted to inflating some data for his research claims, published by prestigious international journals in 2004 and 2005 and now deemed false. In an earlier hearing, he testified that the data in the 2004 study was also falsified without his knowledge.
The scientist also maintained on the stand Tuesday that he did not violate the ban on purchasing eggs for research, saying he merely compensated the doctor who provided him with eggs from donors "out of gratitude," rather than as a commercial transaction.
The prestigious Seoul National University fired Hwang earlier this year after concluding that his research claims were fabricated.
Hwang has maintained that he has the technology to clone embryonic stem cells, and his lawyer, Lee Geon-haeng, said last month that he plans to open a new lab and resume research sometime in July. His prospects were unclear, however, since he is no longer authorized to conduct such research in South Korea.
Hwang was indicted in May for allegedly accepting more than $2 million in private donations based on the outcome of the falsified research and embezzling about $850,000 in private and government research funds.
If convicted, the 52-year-old scientist faces at least three years in prison. Hwang is being tried along with five colleagues who face similar charges.
South Korean disgraced scientist Hwang Woo-suk arrives for a second hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, Tuesday, July 4, 2006. Hwang who used falsified data to claim a breakthrough in creating stem cells from cloned human embryos faced a second hearing Tuesday in his trial on fraud charges. (AP Photo/ Lee Jin-man)
U.S. Senator Bill Frist (R-TN) addresses the press on Capitol Hill after being reelected Senate Majority Leader in Washington in this November 17, 2004 file photo. The U.S. Senate on July 29, 2006 reached a breakthrough agreement to vote on legislation that would allow federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. The bill passed the House last year and sponsors expect a broad bipartisan victory in the Senate, probably in July. However President George W. Bush has threatened to veto it. REUTERS/Mannie Garcia/Files (UNITED STATES
~GCR~
The motley cadre of DUmmies (& unbelievably, RINO Repugnants) who want to enable Franken$tein embryidiotic 'research' have an ulterior motive -- codifying & promoting abortion outside of Roe v. Wade, in order to maintain the horrific abortifacient history of that unconstitutional and immoral decision.
At the end of the day, it's all about dollar$ -- your dollar$.
Wish that all of the domestice clowns who insist superman could fly again, if only Bush allowed Fed funding of embrionic stem cells, would admit falsifying their propaganda!
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